Solar power is considered one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly energy sources presently available, and solar power plants have gained increased attention in this regard. A concentrated solar power plant uses a solar receiver (e.g. steam/molten salt) located at an elevation of a support tower. Thus, solar rays are focused on the panels of the solar receiver via a heliostat field for utilizing the solar heat to produce electricity.
More specifically, the receiver panels of the solar receiver generally include receiver tubes carrying various fluids that are heated by focusing sunrays thereon (i.e. via the heliostat field), thereby heating fluid to be utilized for producing electricity. The easiest and most effective way to focus solar energy using a heliostat field to the receiver panels is to direct the heliostats or mirrors of the heliostat field at the centerline of the solar receiver surface along a height thereof. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a heat flux profile applied on a solar receiver panel surface 10 with centerline 12 aiming.
The geometric arrangement of the solar receiver panel surface 10 along with the heat flux limit constraints for the surface, however, prevents such aiming of the heliostat field and thus limits the field performance. For example, a typical heat flux limit for the current arrangement is shown in FIG. 2. As shown, the heat flux limits of adjacent receiver tubes 14 at any given height turn out to be drastically different. Moreover, as shown, the conventional arrangement of the panel 10 is such that the inlets 18 and outlets 20 of the receiver tubes 14 are at the top and/or bottom of the solar receiver panel surface 10. As a result, (a) the heat flux limits decreases from one end of the passes to other along the height and (b) the heat flux limits of adjacent passes are largely different. In order to apply heat flux within the constraints as mentioned above, the spillage is high. Additionally, to maximize the opportunity to apply heat flux in line with the conventional arrangement, the heliostat field is required to adopt a more complicated multipoint aiming scheme, which can be complex and expensive.
While previously known solar receiver arrangements may have generally been considered satisfactory for their intended purposes, there remains a need in the art for solar receivers having receiver panels with a heat flux limit in line with centerline/center band aiming techniques without requiring a complicated multipoint aiming scheme of the heliostat field.